Academy Watch : Aston Oxborough

Cameron McGeehan and Josh Murphy are both household names at Norwich City now thanks to their recent success in the F.A youth cup winning team, and of course Josh will likely be going on to play in the first team regularly this season. However, there is one player coming through the ranks at Norwich City that not many fans would have heard of and he goes by the name of Aston Oxborough.

Aston joined the Norwich academy at the age of 10 after he was scouted from local team Hemsby Hornets, and from there his progression has been exceptional. He started his career playing in defence but soon moved to between the sticks due to his height, and from there he has not looked back. Aston has since played in each age group for Norwich and excelled in each one. He has seen fellow team mates leave the academy due to the incredibly high standards the club sets its youth players, but Aston has remained an integral part of the youth setup.

The past year has been a huge step up for Aston though and one he will never forget. After being offered a scholarship with the club a year early it meant he had to leave his friends and school to allow him to meet his demanding training regime. But Aston embraced the move and knew he had to sacrifice some things to be the best he could be. It was a very mature decision from the young goalkeeper but it seems that Norwich go that one bit further in developing youth players, and concentrate just as much about mental development, as well as what happens on the pitch. At the age of 14 Aston was making regular appearances for the U16 team and appearing in the U18 team. The fact that Aston was playing in the U18 team at the age of 14 shows how highly Norwich City rate him. The progression continued and at the age of 15 he travelled with the elite Norwich youth players to Qatar to take part in a training camp lead by Real Madrid legend Raul. Just two months after returning from Qatar, Aston then made his first appearance in the U21 team, against Arsenal. This proved to be a big step up in Aston’s career as he was enveloped by players such as Emmanuel Frimpong and Ryo Miyaichi.

Despite not coming off the bench, it was a valuable lesson for Aston as it was the closest to professional football he had played. It was in April that all of Aston’s incredible achievements were topped as he made his England debut in the U16 squad. After attending a goalkeeper training camp Aston was selected to play in the U16 development tournament at St Georges Park. He played in both games and England won 4-1 against Denmark and 3-2 against Belgium. So at the age of 16 Aston already has been part of the Nowich U21 team and has made his England debut. The most exciting thing about him? This is only the start.